ecc call to action 010915_print

TO

Together, we can help European citizens to breathe better

CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE

ON COPD

22 concrete actions to improve the health and qualityof life of European citizens

Agence Newcorp - July 2015

www.copdcoalition.eu

A4 call to action V1_Mise en page 1 01/09/15 11:48 Page2

Every hour, COPD is estimated to kill over

WHY TAKE ACTION ON COPD NOW ?[The magnitude of the issue and the societal burden is such that not presentinga collective and coordinated response to COPD would inevitably further affecteconomies and communities. This would likely result in increased care andtreatment costs for employers, individuals and health systems, including theloss of labour productivity and reduced economic growth.

It is important to recognise that COPD is more than a “smoker’s cough” - it isa life-threatening lung disease.

In Europe:• 4-10% of adults have COPD1.• The total COPD-related expenses for outpatient care (= not in hospital)is approximately € 4,7 billion per year2;

• Inpatient care (= in hospital) generates costs of €2,9 billion and pharmaceutical expenses of € 2,7 billion per year3.

Worldwide:• COPD is the only major cause of death whose incidence is on the increaseand is expected to be the third-leading cause of death worldwide by2030 (exceeded only by heart diseases and stroke).

• Without interventions to reduce risks, particularly exposure to tobaccosmoke, total deaths from COPD are projected to increase by more than30% in the next 10 years.

• COPD is presently the 5th biggest cause of death worldwide.

According to the Global Risks Report6, chronic diseases are a global risk equalin cost to the current global financial crisis. Without urgent collective action,the effects of these risks will be felt for years to come.

1EU Public Health Information System (Halbert et al., 2003, Interpreting COPD prevalence estimates: what is the true burden of disease? Chest,2003; 123(5): 1684-92.Estimate - there is not enough epidemiological information on the matter.2-33ERS European Lung White Book.4In 2004, WHO reference.5Representing 5% of all deaths globally in 2005 (greater than the mortality from HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis), WHO reference. 6World Economic Forum, http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2011.

64 million3 million 250

people live with COPD4

people worldwide

people die of COPD every year5

More than

An estimated

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WHAT IS COPD ?[

WHAT IS NEEDED:[

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a serious disease affectingup to 10 % of European adults. The European COPD Coalition calls on the EUto take effective action to support patients, their families and caregivers, bycreating the conditions to eliminate avoidable COPD and premature death.COPD is a long-term, irreversible lung and airways disease. COPD is a chronicdisease.

COPD causes wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and other symptoms.This makes it hard to move air in and out of the lungs.

COPD is often misdiagnosed and confused with asthma.

COPD ismainly caused by smoking and therefore mostly preventable. Long-termexposure to other lung irritants, such as air pollution, chemical fumes, or dust,may also cause or contribute to COPD.

A small proportion of COPD cases are caused by a genetic disorder.

An EU COPD framework should aim to improve the health and quality of lifeof European citizens, including persons at risk of, or affected by, COPD. Basedon the common European values of universal healthcare, access to good qualitycare, equity and solidarity, and encouraging innovation, the COPD frameworkshould encompasses health promotion, disease prevention, medical andpsychological support, and the social and environmental aspects of the disease.

Tackling COPD effectively requires cooperation by stakeholders including physicians, patient organisations, caregivers, life science representatives andpoliticians in a coordinated framework.

The EU must address key risk factors across all relevant policies and sectors,taking into consideration the social, cultural, gender, economic and environ-mental determinants of health.

We call for EU leadership on COPD, supporting Member States’ efforts, by:• Recognising the political importance of acting on COPD• Tackling COPD through appropriate and effective actions• Facilitating learning and best practices• Ensuring the EU protects public health, as set out in the Treaty

ECC CALLS FOR 22 CONCRETE ACTI NSO[ ]

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HEALTH PROMOTION AND DISEASE PREVENTION[Most cases of COPD are preventable because risk factors, such as smoking andexposure to chemical irritants, can be addressed. The EU must continue to promote healthy lifestyles as the only sustainable way forward.

We therefore call upon the EU to:

This will allow earlier detection and shouldbe implemented as a population-based quality-assured screening programme.

Create greater awareness of COPD in pan-European campaigns on healthy lifestyles.Strong messages against smoking and promoting on-going physical activity are important to help reduce the risk of COPD;one very concrete way of doing so, wouldbe to include COPD-related warnings onthe cigarette packs.

Put strong measures in place to drasticallyreduce both indoor and outdoor air pollution. These measures shall concern all sectors source of pollution, includingtransport, agriculture, housing, energyand industrial production of goods. TheEU Air Quality Package must set ambitioustargets and set deadlines, and be completedby measures to tackle indoor air pollution,absent from the said package.

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Promote and support Member States’measures on earlier screening and diagnosisfor people at risk through spirometry, asimple lung function test for COPD (andasthma).

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In its legislation, implement the recom-mendations made by WHO’s FrameworkConvention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),public health and civil society actors expertsin the field of tobacco products and smoking prevention: measures on pricing,marketing, packaging, product displayand distribution of tobacco products,on cigarette substances and supporting smoking cessation programmes will helpprevent the onset of COPD.

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Finance appropriate public health cam-paigns on risk factors, notably smokingand air pollution.

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CARE AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT[COPD cannot be cured but patients can benefit from treatment and care thatis essential to their well-being and helps them to lead as healthy a life aspossible.

We therefore call upon the EU to:

Ensure that there are adequate numbersof healthcare professionals and, in parti-cular, put in place a strategy with EUMember States to address the shortage of healthcare professionals, within the framework of the Modernisation of the Professional Qualifications Directive(2005/36/EC). This will become an evengreater issue as the population ages andas an increased number of people growold with one or several chronic diseases.

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Fund and support the development andimplementation of innovative tools, tech-niques and approaches to treating COPD,which include the promotion of home careand of telemedicine. The use of moderntechnology (such as smart phones andapplications) can improves patient access,information and disease monitoring, andmay lead to cost savings.

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Fund and support the development ofEuropean and national registries for COPD,as they represent valuable sources of medicaland family history data and serve as a centralinformation source where researchers canobtain data for analysis.

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Provide incentives to develop at nationallevel rehabilitation programmes for patientswith COPD.

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Provide incentives to develop at nationallevel rehabilitation programmes for patientswith COPD.

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Prioritise chronic diseases in its health-related policies, as chronic diseases are responsible for 86% of deaths in Europe.

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Support EU Member States to refocustheir health systems away from hospitalcare and towards better prevention andcommunity based care.

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Create and implement a coordination system that facilitates access to essentialcare in all EU Member States: this includesmedicines, supplies of medical and diag-nostic devices, treatments and self-careeducation appropriate to people’s needs.Ensure that the safest and most provenmedicines are purchased.

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RESEARCH[COPD poses a great challenge of morbidity and especially in terms of the directand indirect costs to society. A more strategic investment or mechanism for adedicated and specific research strategy right across public health and the bio-medical sphere and, in particular, for common respiratory diseases at EU level,is needed if the aims of the Innovation Union, a central pillar of the Europe2020 strategy, are to be met7.

Therefore, we call for the following concrete actions:

The EU must increase its funding dedicatedto respiratory disease research. Only 4.3%of FP7 budget is dedicated to respiratorydiseases and more specifically, 0.5% toCOPD and asthma research (€31 million).Despite the slight decrease in fundsdedicated to health in the “Horizon 2020”(10% instead of the present 11% of theoverall budget for research will go tohealth), research on COPD must be priori-tised to help improve treatments.In particular, the EU should lead in promo-ting and supporting biomedical researchin COPD, for further innovation particularlyin new fields such as personalised medicine.

As a strong priority to combatting anti-microbial resistance is given by WHO, ECCis calling for strong political commitmentto foster the development of new formu-lations of antibiotics. Further developmentof vaccines against respiratory bacteriaand viruses is a must, as they are partici-pating indirectly as comorbidity factors inthe development of COPD.

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The EU should support and initiateresearch at the European level on socialand environmental determinants of healthto better understand factors that increasethe risk of developing COPD.

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The EU should closely monitor and implement or support the implemen-tation of research findings at theMember State level.

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The EU should create a European-wideframework, similar to the European Re-search Council, allowing collaboration andcooperation between researchers, health-care professionals and the life scienceindustry at the EU level, to enhance andincrease research on COPD, to avoid unne-cessary duplication and fragmentation ofresearch and to support clinical care totransition to the market place; COPD is oneof the commonest chronic diseases in Europeand although it is primarily a chronic in-flammatory disease of the lungs, there areno effective anti-inflammatory treatmentsand we cannot reduce disease progressionor mortality or effectively treat exacerba-tions with existing therapies. Cross-fertili-sation between clinical disciplines is vital toaccelerating the translation of this basicscience into clinical practice.

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7ERS Respiratory Roadmap, Recommendations for the future of respiratorymedicine, Health Policy Makers version, Research Chapter, published June2011.

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INFORMATION, EDUCATION, TRAINING AND PATIENT EMPOWERMENT[

COPD needs to be better known, within the political leaders, but also withinhealthcare professionals and the whole population. Prevention requires infor-mation and training.

Therefore, we call for the following concrete actions:

Further training and education of primary,secondary and tertiary healthcare profes-sionals is needed to allow them to developthe skills to recognise COPD symptoms andproperly diagnose it.

With healthcare professionals’ mobility, itis important that core competencies areharmonised at a European level to deliverthe same quality of care and ensure patientsafety at the EU level. The EU should support the adoption of a European accreditation system to harmonise trai-ning standards.

19The EU should support Members States intheir programmes to develop patient em-powerment, as an indispensable part ofthe future sustainability of European healthsystems, and to enable them to cope withthe challenges posed by organisationaland structural reforms, the increasing prevalence of chronic conditions andinnovative technologies. Patients must be active participants in their health and careand the EU should provide the necessarymeans for patients to properly managelong-term chronic conditions, thus impro-ving health outcomes.

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The EU should support the creation anddissemination of peer-reviewed, non-com-mercial and sound information on COPD,medicines and treatments as part of acoherent strategy for EU health information.

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ACTI NCALLTO

OON COPD

European COPD Coalition (ECC)Rond Point Schuman 6, Box 5B-1040 Brussels, Belgium

Tel: +32 (0) 2 234 63 11 and +32 (0) 488 949 613EU Transparency register: 36443386820-19

Follow us on twitter: @EU_COPD, and facebook: "European COPD Coalition"

www.copdcoalition.eu

Agence Newcorp - July 2015

International non-profit-making association

Together, we can help European citizens to breathe better. Step up and support ECC’s Call to Action.


ecc call to action 010915_print

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